Zeynep Ucbasaran Plays Mozart (2005)

Turkish pianist Zeynep Ucbasaran made her name as a Liszt player, that is, as a virtuoso who can actually play the Hungarian pianist's extraordinarily difficult music. But, as difficult as Liszt's music is, every pianist knows Mozart's music is more difficult because while Liszt's music is only extraordinarily difficult to play, Mozart's music is extraordinarily difficult to interpret. The thrill of Liszt's music is nailing the notes in the score, but the thrill in Mozart's music is touching the sublime behind the notes and ... Read More

Turkish pianist Zeynep Ucbasaran made her name as a Liszt player, that is, as a virtuoso who can actually play the Hungarian pianist's extraordinarily difficult music. But, as difficult as Liszt's music is, every pianist knows Mozart's music is more difficult because while Liszt's music is only extraordinarily difficult to play, Mozart's music is extraordinarily difficult to interpret. The thrill of Liszt's music is nailing the notes in the score, but the thrill in Mozart's music is touching the sublime behind the notes and above the score. As a Liszt player, Ucbasaran got the notes right. As a Mozart player, Ucbasaran touches the sublime.Ucbasaran's program starts with the effortless classical elegance of the C major Sonata, K. 330, and the Duport Variations, K. 573, but moves to the expressive emotional power of the Fantasy in D minor, K. 397, and especially the nearly tragic Fantasy, K. 475, and Sonata in C minor, K. 457. Ucbasaran's tone is deep and her technique is true, but it is her ability to... Read Less